The
BCL-3000 is Tecsun's upgrade to the very popular and still available
BCL-2000. For reference purposes the BCL-2000 is the OEM version of
the Grundig S350 sold in North America. It is also sold under other
brand names in other countries. In a nutshell the original BCL-2000
is an analog-tuned radio with digital frequency readout, covering
AM/FM and SW. The newer BCL-3000 will be marketed in North America
as the Grundig S350DL and will retail for $150 compared with the S-350's
$100 retail price. The Tecsun version for this review was purchased
through Liypn on eBay for $50.90 plus $38.00 shipping & insurance
for a grand total of $88.90. This compares with the approximate price
of $70 for the original version. Although the North American Grundig
version sports updated styling with chrome accents, making it look
very different than the original, the Tecsun looks identical to the
original model with the exception of different characters on the LCD
display the radio cabinet itself appears to be identical. One
other difference is that the Grundig S-350DL will reportedly allow
the use of either AA or D cells the Tecsun runs on 4 D cells
or AC power only. The Tecsun versions also omit the expanded AM band
which is, of course, covered by the Grundig version. The original
models offer a lot of performance for the price. Very good sensitivity,
decent selectivity and pleasant sound in an easy-to-carry package.
Being a single-conversion design there are some out of band images
but these tend to not interfere very often while tuning within the
usual SW broadcast bands.

What's
new?

The detailed
improvements of the new model include:New
Snooze Function added

Auto
Backlight feature added operating the controls turns the illumination
on for a few seconds.FM
Stereo is now available at the headphone jack (it was only available
at the Line Out jacks of the original model).

The Time
can now be set with the radio either on or off.Improved
action of RF Gain control (not a claimed improvement but I noted it
in my comparison tests).

And the
biggie an "Automatic Frequency Lock Up Function" has
been added.

I spent a couple of days comparing my BCL-3000 to a BCL-2000 to see
how these new features worked and came away feeling the new model
is an advancement, but that it also has some quirks not present on
the original model. The Snooze, auto backlight and FM Stereo upgrades
are simple enough and don't need much discussion here. But the biggest
reason I tried this new model was to see if the well-documented drift
issues of the original model have been improved. What I found was
that frequency stability has been improved noticeably but it comes
at the expense of some ergonomic friendliness. Here's how the new
lock feature works and what I found.

As you
tune in a station, the MHz or KHz character on the LCD readout flashes
as you tune. A second or so after you stop tuning, that flashing stops
and the radio locks on the frequency you've tuned in. So far so good
and it looks very re-assuring. The downside is that while you are
tuning, if you have trouble zeroing in on the exact frequency right
away, it may lock before you have finished tuning then it tries
to keep the frequency from changing while you are still tuning and
will fight you until you tune far enough away to "lose lock".
You have to tune further away than you would want to, then come back
to the right frequency, and land on it before it locks again. It can
be tricky, especially on shortwave, where the radio is still somewhat
finicky to tune in exactly. It's less of an issue on AM than it is
on SW. Comparing a BCL-2000 with a 3000, the 3000 forces you to tune
fast enough to keep the radio from locking before you're done zeroing
in on the exact frequency and although it sounds a bit odd it can
be tricky.

I also
discovered that the actual drift, which is caused by a combination
of mechanical backlash in the tuning system and some electronic drift
as well, has not been eliminated. Rather, the automatic frequency
lock circuit has been clamped down on top of it. What this means is
that small amounts of drift will be held in check by the new lock
circuitry, but if the radio drifts beyond a certain amount the radio
will lose lock and the frequency will drift, although it will drift
less than the original model by a factor of about 2 to 1. That is,
if my BCL-2000 drifted from 12095 to 12090, the BCL-3000 will only
have drifted down to about 12093.

Let me
give you another example on AM. I tuned the BCL-3000 to 710 KHz and
it locked on. After a while I came back and the radio had drifted
to 709 (admittedly not bad), and the KHz indicator was flashing. My
BCL2000 had drifted to 708 by comparison. However, on the BCL-2000
is was a simple matter to tune upward slightly until the radio was
back on 710. But with the 3000, as I started to tune upwards, the
frequency stubbornly stayed on 709 until it suddenly jumped up to
712. So I started to tune downwards and it held on 712 until it would
drop down to 708. I could not get it back to 710. I had to tune away
somewhat further, then come back to 710. This behavior is a little
frustrating to those who enjoy analog tuning as you tune across
any AM or SW signals, the speed at which you tune determines whether
or not the BCL3000 will lock onto a particular frequency and fight
you until you force it to unlock by tuning further away then you normally
would. (To Tecsun: Perhaps if the lock could be modified to wait a
second or two longer before clamping down it would alleviate this
problem).

On a
more positive note, I did several comparisons of AM and SW drift on
the BCL-3000 versus the BCL-2000 and the 3000 always remained much
closer to the originally tuned frequency, and often held it perfectly,
while the 2000 might waver around a bit. So it is better in this regard.
It's just too bad that this tuning behavior is more finicky that it
was before and I think this kind of idiosyncrasy will bother some
users. It is also obvious that while the new lock circuit is an overall
improvement, it is not as desirable as eliminating the actual drift
at its source would have been, and is therefore more of a band-aid
approach to dealing with the problem. And it is certainly true that
once tuned to a frequency, the BCL-3000 will remain closer to that
frequency than the 2000 will so in that regard, the lock circuitry
is doing exactly what it is claimed to do.

For perspective,
even the original models could be controlled if you learned the ins-and-outs
of them. For instance, since some of the drift is actually the release
of forces which are stored in the tuning mechanism, learning the "feel"
of that mechanism lets you keep drift to a minimum. As you zero in
on your station, swinging the tuning knob in smaller and smaller swings
to either side of the correct frequency, finally zeroing in on the
exact frequency you can leave the tuning system with less built up
tension and it will "creep" less afterwards. Also, if you
are using the radio on batteries (where the drift is greater than
on AC because in AC operation one critical component is kept at operating
temperature all the time), drift stabilizes after the first several
minutes of operation. In fact, I can keep a BCL-2000 tuned to one
AM frequency without ever touching it day after day and the maximum
deviation I will ever see is 1KHz, which is actually very good. Again,
SW tuning is more critical and drift is more evident, but you will
have to retune more often on the original model than the newer one.

One other
complaint on the original model was the sudden operation of the RF
gain control. As you rotated it counterclockwise nothing seemed to
change until the last few degrees of rotation, then all the change
occurred with very few degrees of rotation. The new model features
a much more linear, smoothly acting control, although it has a bit
less ultimate attenuation than the original For most uses, however
it is greatly improved. One note applicable to all versions if
you are experiencing a bit of overload on SW, try shortening the rod
antenna to about half of its full height. I find this more effective
than either the RF Gain control or the Low Pass Filter in many cases.

Other
Minor DifferencesThe
auto off feature now 'remembers" the last time setting you chose,
so instead of always defaulting to 90 minutes, it will start wherever
you last used it. In other words, if you set the shut off time to
60 minutes, it will be 60 the next time you engage it, unless you
then change it a nice feature. You can still bypass the auto
shut off mode by holding the power button for a few seconds as on
the more recent BCL-2000's. However, to turn the radio off you have
to hold the power button for a few seconds a quick push will
not turn it off. On the BCL-2000 if you hit the light button momentarily
the light will come on for a few seconds, then turn off. Or you can
hold the light button for a few seconds and it will stay on permanently.
On the new model, you have to hold the button while the light cycles
on, then off, then back on before it will be permanently on. And to
shut it off, instead of the single punch of the original model, you
have to press and hold the switch for a few seconds to turn it off.
Same with the power button. Once the radio is on, you have to press
and hold it for a few seconds to shut it off. Not big issues just
oddities compared with the original model.

I should
also mention that I found no differences in overall performance between
the old and new models. They seemed equally sensitive on all bands
and had the same sound quality. It is clearly updated software which
makes all the difference in the new model.

So
Is The Upgrade Worth It?In
conclusion it is clear the Tecsun's engineers sought to improve an
already good model with what is essentially a new software interface.
The basic radio is unchanged, but the software allows new features
to be added. These new features probably add more than they take away,
but if you already are a happy owner of an original model Tecsun BCL-2000
or Grundig S-350 it's hard to recommend buying the upgraded version
just to have the upgrades. For a first time buyer I would recommend
the new version because it is overall a bit better, but whether or
not it justifies the increased cost $150 versus $100 for the two Grundig
versions) will be a personal decision.